In July, the José Luis Martínez-Almeida City Council approved the contract for the drafting of the project that will culminate in the placement of a green slab on top of the M-30 at the height of Ventas, budgeted at 87.8 million euros. An area of 17,000 square meters that will connect the districts of Salamanca and Ciudad Lineal on a pedestrian and landscape level. In this way, the Quinta de Fuente del Berro park, on the Salamanca side, and the green area and sports facilities located on the Ciudad Lineal side will be directly linked.
Once the works are completed, which will take place between the spring of 2025 and 2027, the structure will have a length of 200 meters and will have pedestrian, garden and residential areas in which more than 200 new trees will be planted (after felling 54 specimens in a historic garden and its surroundings, as contemplated in the preliminary project).
The initiative is a pillar of one of the main axes of the mobility and urban planning policy of the Almeida team. The specific burial of the M-30 was the third announced in the campaign that ended in his re-election. He joined the coverage of the Castellana in the Cuatro Torres area and the burying of at least 4 kilometers of the A-5, which he already promised before his first term and whose works are about to start.
The municipal representatives of PSOE and Más Madrid, however, question the real incidence of this burial. Antonio Giraldo, socialist spokesperson on the Urban Planning Commission, even shows his reservations when it comes to using the term “burying.” He believes that this word or “coverage” can be used in actions such as that of Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, with an incidence of between 20 and 30% of the M-30. “It must be taken into account that this road is about 14 kilometers in the eastern section and there is talk of covering about 200 meters, that is, less than 2%,” he points out in conversation with Somos Madrid. Thus, he maintains that it is rather “a new green area on a stretch of highway.”
He points out that “the M-30 is a physical and socioeconomic barrier, so reducing those barriers is always good.” He then adds that “the key to success or not is its management and scope.” In his opinion, “it is not the most appropriate location, since this investment could have been allocated to a place with a greater border effect.” He cites the case of Puente de Vallecas, “with more inequality between both sides and greater pollution generated by traffic.” He proposes that “with this money work could have begun to remove its viaduct.”
The mayor of Más Madrid José Luis Nieto raises the same question in statements to this newspaper: “Almeida could have taken advantage of the 2025 budgets to once and for all dismantle the Puente de Vallecas scalextric, which was approved in the plenary session of the City Council. But the mayor has put it in the drawer of oblivion, once again ignoring the citizens. “This intervention would indeed be an operation to bridge a large inequality gap and unite two districts.” He considers that “if the City Council sells this action to us as one of its large city operations, it is increasingly clear that this mayor lacks a project and a model for Madrid.”
It must be taken into account that this road is about 14 kilometers in the eastern section and there is talk of covering about 200 meters, that is, less than 2%. It is more of a new green area on a stretch of highway
Along these lines, Giraldo calls the action “a fix without significance in the city because it is isolated from a more transversal intervention.” Not in vain, it goes beyond this project and questions the burial model: “We are talking about covering while we should tend to reduce the lanes of the M-30, in line with what is done in large European cities like Paris” . He speaks of “landscape solutions that do not solve the problem of congestion and traffic,” since “the big underlying problem is mobility, and hiding it does not eliminate it.”
“Those who speak of little ambition are those who 20 years ago opposed the burying of the M-30 or those who not so long ago tried to transform the A-5 by installing traffic lights,” defend municipal sources from the area of Works and Equipment consulted by this newspaper. “The City Council considers the upcoming covering of the M-30 at Ventas as a transformative project that follows in the wake of great actions that have been carried out in the city since Almeida has been mayor. This is a project that will improve the quality of life of the neighbors, since they will gain 17,000 square meters for their enjoyment,” they add.
“As for the M-30 as it passes through Puente de Vallecas, the opposition should stop lying to the neighbors,” they say from the municipal Executive. “We are not talking about a bridge like that of Joaquín Costa or that of Pedro Bosch. It is the M-30, the main ring road of this city. Demolishing this bridge would paralyze the circulation of this road. A solution must be found that improves the conditions of this area, but it has to be compatible with the mobility of the M-30. “Let them explain what they propose, what the cost is and what they are going to do with the tens of thousands of cars that pass through that point on the M-30 daily,” they respond to criticism from the opposition.
From the area led by the popular councilor Paloma García Romero, they celebrate that thanks to the new structure near Ventas “the neighbors will have children’s games, calisthenics equipment and a small outdoor performance area with a low-rise bleacher.” They also boast of the new “green” connection between the districts of Salamanca and Ciudad Lineal, with 200 new trees after eliminating another 54.
“Green” project not exempt from logging
In opposition, Nieto emphasizes the environmental effects of the planned coverage in Ventas: “We are very concerned about the possible effects on the Fuente del Berro park. Almeida intends to sell the project as a green area gain at the expense of affecting and eliminating trees from the Fuente del Berro park. Their desire to destroy the trees of Madrid is incredible.”
Most of the trees that will disappear are located east of the M-30, but almost a dozen of those affected will be cut down within the Quinta Fuente del Berro park itself, a historic garden from the 17th century. “The affected specimens are mostly large specimens and belong to species such as Arizona trees, cedars, pines, elms and ailanthus,” stated the municipal preliminary project for the works.
The City Council argues that “in a preliminary project it is very difficult to establish the number of trees that may be affected in such a complex project and only with the execution project will it be possible to know.” They assure that “one of the aspects that will be valued is the preservation of most of the trees.”
“The preliminary project includes an inventory of the trees, which does not necessarily mean that they will be affected and, much less, that any felling has been requested. In any case, we will work, as always, to ensure that the effects are minimal. Furthermore, not only would those trees that had to be felled be replaced, but many more will be planted on these slopes on both sides of the M-30,” defends the Works area.
The space created on the M-30 will connect with the banks through eight paths and will have pedestrian, garden and residential areas in which more than 200 new trees will be planted. The new platform will be located about 300 meters south of the Ventas bridge, in the vicinity of the Ramón de Aguinaga walkway.
This location has been determined as the most appropriate to avoid the demolition of the ramps that connect the M-30 with Alcalá Street, which would imply a great impact on mobility for many months, in addition to significant technical complexity. On the other hand, in the 300-meter section south of the bridge there are Metro facilities and a Canal de Isabel II depot that would make the connection of the platform unfeasible. To all this we must add that the section of the M-30 chosen runs in a trench at a lower level than the city on both sides of the infrastructure, something that will facilitate the work.
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